Computer repair for laptops, desktops and gaming PCs.

Partner store or mail-in: which is right for your computer?

You can take your computer to a nearby partner store or mail it free to our lab. Laptops, Chromebooks and Surface devices ship easily: they're small, light and pack well with padding around them. Mail-in is typically 7–10 days door to door. We diagnose it within 24 hours of arrival and confirm the price before any work.

Desktops can be shipped too, but a full tower is heavy, and parts inside, like a long graphics card or a tall CPU cooler, can shift in transit. If there's a partner store within reach, that's often the more practical choice for a desktop, an all-in-one or an iMac with its large glass front. If you do mail a tower, we send packing instructions first and may ask you to remove and pack the graphics card separately. Partner stores set their own prices and explain their own warranty. How mail-in works.

Common computer problems and what causes them

Most computer faults come from a handful of causes, and knowing which one you're dealing with helps you pick the right repair:

• Cracked or dark laptop screens usually come from drops, pressure in a bag or a stiff hinge. A black screen with the computer still running can also be the cable or the board. See laptop screen repair.
• Short battery life and swelling come with age and heat. A swollen battery needs attention right away. See laptop battery replacement.
• Charging faults are often the charger itself, otherwise a worn jack or a USB-C port. See charging port repair.
• Dead, sticky or repeating keys are usually spills or wear. See keyboard repair.
• Loud fans, heat and shutdowns mostly come from dust and dried thermal paste. See overheating and fan repair.
• Slowness and pop-ups come from malware, startup clutter or an old hard drive. See virus removal and SSD and RAM upgrades.
• No power at all can be anything from a charger to a shorted board component. See computer won't turn on.

Spills are their own category. Shut the computer down, unplug it and don't turn it back on to test it. Liquid and power together cause the damage, and corrosion keeps spreading, so book a liquid damage check as soon as you can.

Repair, upgrade or replace?

A repair makes sense when the cost is well below the price of a comparable replacement and the computer still does what you need. Screens, batteries, keyboards and charging ports are usually worth fixing on a laptop that's otherwise in good shape. An SSD and more memory can give an older PC years of extra use.

A few things tilt the decision. Windows 10 has reached the end of its support, so a PC that can't run Windows 11 is less worth a large repair. Every Chromebook has an automatic update expiration date, after which it stops getting updates, and you can find it in the Chromebook's settings. And on laptops with memory and storage soldered to the board, the specs can't be upgraded later. When a repair doesn't add up, we tell you, and we can move your files to your next computer.

How computer repair pricing works

Each repair shows a starting price, the lowest price for that job. The final price depends on your model and the parts it needs: a high refresh rate gaming screen costs more than a standard one, and a top case costs more than a drop-in keyboard. Faults like a computer that won't turn on or liquid damage start with a free check, because the cause has to be found before it can be priced.

Either way, the diagnosis is free and we confirm the price before any work starts. Nothing is added without your OK, and if we can't fix it, you don't pay for the repair. We don't include Windows licenses; when Windows needs reinstalling, we use your existing license where possible. See pricing or book your computer repair to see your price.

Your files and your privacy

Most repairs never touch your files, but your computer holds a lot of personal information, so we keep access to a minimum. We don't need passwords for your email, bank or online accounts. If we need to sign in to Windows to test a repair, we ask first. You can create a temporary local account for us instead of sharing your own, and remove it when the computer comes back.

We never bypass passwords, encryption, account locks or Activation Lock on a Mac. If your PC uses BitLocker or Device Encryption, find your recovery key before the repair. It's usually saved in your Microsoft account, and some repairs, like drive or board work, can trigger a prompt for it. If your files are already at risk, see data recovery.

How to prep your computer before a repair

• Back up your files to an external drive or cloud storage if the computer still runs.
• Note your BitLocker recovery key, or check where it's saved.
• Remove USB drives, SD cards and discs.
• Include the charger with a laptop, and the power cable with a desktop.
• Write down what happens and when it started: after a drop, a spill, an update or a storm.
• Keep track of your repair on the tracking page once it's booked.

Written and checked by the repair team at Charlotte Tech Repair, repairing devices in Charlotte since 2013. Updated November 2026.